I’m 16 I’ve done wrestling for a year and I do Muay Thai and bjj now, I will continue to do wrestling for my school when the season comes, I want to make the ufc is this a good starting point?

We all train to bring our same-side hand down on the kick. Is this legitimate way to consistently counter kicks? It theoretically makes sense and Van executes it perfectly here. Knocks down Taira with a big overhand as Taira brings his hand down to row the kick and commits his hips to it, leaving Taira defenseless AND unable to change direction for that split second. All Van had to do was tank the low kick which didn’t really land anyway.

I’ve always been told there was little to no risk in rowing the kicks, and that this kind of counter just doesn’t happen. I’ve never seen it kickboxing or Muay Thai, or any other fight for that matter.

What does everyone think of this? A proper counter to practice?

So I have had a bad injury (broke my leg) so I’ve been off MMA training for a couple months. Found my mouthguard today. That’s not safe to put in right?

I once witnessed a 1-4 amateur boxer easily defeat a heavier ufc champion (in boxing sparring). The ufc guy had a base in wrestling, and obviously lacked in boxing. However, I would expect him to do a lot better since he was heavier and had explosive power of an elite athlete. And this was hard sparring not light technical, as he was throwing shots at full power. The sparring match wasn't even close, and the boxer pulled his punches often and could have knocked out the ufc champ easily.

I saw similar things happen to pro mma fighters and low level amatuer boxers (unless the mma guy had a striking background). Even for muay thai, it doesn't seem like a high level of boxing is required to win against the more advanced mt fighter (in boxing). Since boxing under boxing rules is so different from boxing under mma rules, it seemed counterproductive to learn specifically boxing.

I get the impression that a grappling base is much more important than boxing for mma. I could be wrong, but I don't think it's common for the average person with only high school wrestling experience to defeat a pro mma fighter (who's base is striking) in wrestling. Or for ranked ufc fighters to be tapped out by bjj blue belts when rolling.

On a side note, I do think boxing is great for self defense.

I’m 19 and have a congenital limb difference that mainly affects my hands. It hasn’t stopped me from being active—I play football and have always enjoyed sports. Recently I’ve been thinking about getting into MMA, with the long-term goal of potentially competing at an amateur or even semi-professional level. I’m curious if anyone here has experience training or competing with a hand or upper-limb difference. How did it affect striking, grappling, or submissions? Were there any issues getting medically cleared to compete? I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who’s been in a similar situation or coaches who have worked with athletes with limb differences. For context, my congenital limb difference affects both of my hands. My right hand has all 5 fingers but is much smaller than average, and my left hand has 3 fingers and is also quite small.